Netflix Announces Offline Viewing Feature

Acquiescing to popular demand, Netflix announced a download feature to allow offline binge-watching for subscribers.

Netflix has given binge-viewing fans what they’ve been clamouring for by announcing the introduction of an offline viewing.

With the new feature being rolled out immediately, certain programming will offer a download option as an alternative to streaming content using an internet connection, and it will come at no extra cost.

“While many members enjoy watching Netflix at home, we’ve often heard they also want to continue their 'Stranger Things' binge while on airplanes and other places where internet is expensive or limited,” the company announced via its official blog on Wednesday morning (November 30th).

“Just click the download button on the details page for a film or TV series and you can watch it later without an internet connection.”

At first, only a select range of licensed and original content will actually be able to be downloaded – Netflix says that ‘Orange Is The New Black’, ‘Narcos’ and ‘The Crown’ are among those series that subscribers can download – but that it will be extended to more films and TV shows in the near future.

The feature is to be included in all new updates for phones and tablets on both iOS and Android.

It comes more than a year after Netflix’s rival Amazon Prime introduced its own offline viewing feature in September 2015. The move is long overdue for subscribers in some countries into which Netflix has recently expanded where bandwidth is often lower, making streaming more difficult.

“Amazon is definitely encroaching on Netflix’s turf,” said tech analyst Paul Verna at EMarketer in response to the news via the L.A. Times. “It doesn’t seem like something that requires a tremendous investment on their part to enable, so I guess at a certain point they decided, ‘Why not.’”